Exploring Underground: Interview with Steve Lieber

[Stephanie]

Steve Lieber and Jeff Parker's Underground from Image Comics concludes next week. If you're not on board with the environmental adventure that takes a dangerous turn, then dive in and enjoy. Series artist Lieber agreed to answer some of our questions about the comic that's off-the-cave-wall exciting, and writer Jeff Parker jumps in, as well.


Impulse Creations: Thanks for sitting down with us, Steve, and agreeing to talk about your work on Underground! Can you tell us a little about the comic?

Steve Lieber: Underground is a comic about a fight over a big cave in a small town. Our heroes, Wes Fischer [Ed. note: the female lead] and Seth Ridge, are two Park Rangers in Kentucky. They come into conflict with some locals over what to do with the cave: preserve it for the naturalists or open it up for the tourists. Misunderstandings quickly escalate into violence, and the result is a deadly chase through the cave.

Impulse: How did you become involved with Underground?

Lieber: It was my idea! I'd been thinking about it for several years, doing research and trying to get a handle on who the characters were. I talked about the story with Jeff Parker, who immediately demonstrated that he understood the material better than I did. So I brought him aboard to write it.

Impulse: What about the environmental story appeals to you, personally?

Lieber: It's not the environmental themes that called me as much as the possibilities of the setting. I love stories about man against nature, where nature functions like a character. And there's nothing I'd rather draw than the natural world—especially extreme environments like a cave. That said, I also wanted to do the story because I liked the greyness of the conflict. It's not about heroes and villains. Most of the town actually wants the cave opened up for tourism. They've got a point: a cave ecosystem is fragile, but so's a community. Our antagonists aren't traditional bad guys. When their day started, they were just going to work.

Impulse: I'm a big fan of your artistic style, which fits so well for this comic. Why use such radical colors, particularly for the beginning dream and subsequent cave sequences?

Lieber: The bizarre colors in the dream sequence are there to signal that this is, in fact, a dream. We hoped it would be clear from the first panel and not give the impression that we were trying to fool anyone with a fake start. The in-cave color schemes were chosen to clearly separate the monochromatic darkness of Stillwater Cave from the bright Kentucky sunshine above.

Impulse: You had to replicate a lot of complex cave interiors. Did that require a lot of research on your end, or did writer Jeff Parker guide you through the designs?

Lieber: I just did a lot of research, looking at photos—mostly Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Also, Parker and I went to the lava tubes at Mount Saint Helens to spend some time in the lave tubes there. That was really something. It's not a decorated cave. It doesn't have the complex formations you'll find in a cave formed by water cutting through limestone for thousands of years, but it's still a big tunnel running underground, and we learned a lot from the experience.

Impulse: Those issue covers really caught my eye. The first issue, which shows the various characters' faces embedded in the rock walls, struck me the most. Why introduce a comic with a cover like that?

Lieber: That was Parker's design, so I should punt the question to him. Jeff?

Jeff Parker: I liked the thematic approach of mixing the conflict above ground in the town with the challenge of the natural environment. I'd be lying if I said I knew it was going that way the whole time. Initially, I gave Steve a rough with [Wesley] climbing through that chasm, mostly entranced with doing a composition that showed scale and depth. And then after Steve came back with the finished art and I began coloring, I started grabbing other drawings he had of the characters and laying them in—just curious to see what it would look like. And then I got really happy with it. Colleen Coover came back into the computer room and talked me out of going with a warmer color scheme that she thought "looked like bruised meat." It was fun coming back to Steve with that when he had no idea there was going to be more to it. You should never be afraid to veer off on a whim during the process—though always save an earlier version in case your experiment doesn't work.

One of my favorite things about the cover is that you don't see Wesley's face on it. That and the very off-center composition established from the start that we would take advantage of our position as creators and shot-callers, and do a series of covers that were not traditional for comics, or at least not like the ones we are encouraged to do in work for hire. And it resulted in a group of striking pieces, I think.

Lieber: I was really happy with the result, too. It captured more of what the series is about, and signaled to the reader that this isn't going to be like other books on the stands.

Impulse: The comic finishes the first week in March, and Wesley's decision might leave some readers on unsteady ground. Where would you fall? Show cave or preservation? Does it matter?

Lieber: Every situation is different. I'd rather stay removed and show the conflict without taking sides. Parker and I have described the story as being like one of those episodes of Wild Kingdom, where a lion is stalking a zebra. You aren't supposed to root for one animal to win over another.

Impulse: What was the most challenging aspect about illustrating Underground?

Lieber: Trying to continuously ratchet up the sense of claustrophobia and dread while still keeping the world believable.

Impulse: And the most rewarding part?

Lieber: I loved drawing all those magnificent natural forms in the cave and playing with light, seeing how much I could drop into shadow without sacrificing clarity in the storytelling. Also, I really pushed myself on faces in this book. I'm proud of what I was able to do with Wes and Seth's expressions.

Impulse: What's next for you? Any other projects lined up or currently in-the-works?

Lieber: I'm working on an OGN for a big publisher, but I'm not allowed to talk about it yet.


Learn more about Underground at www.undergroundthecomic.com. Want the comics? Buy 'em here, or stay tuned for the upcoming graphic novel.